no nonsense nutrition

Bigger, Faster and Stronger – with 5 no nonsense tips

Athletes who are serious about achieving their full potential, need to provide their bodies with the best fuel. When I first meet with clients, for many, their aim is “just to get bigger, faster and stronger”.

Telling an athlete to “eat more” or “have an extra protein shake” is not good enough. The nutritional quality of the food (the ‘micronutrients’: vitamins, minerals, phytochemicals, antioxidants etc.), as well as the ‘macronutrients’ (protein, carbohydrate and fats) are pivotal to reaching these ‘bigger, faster, stronger’ goals.

Here are 5 essentials for getting bigger and stronger:

Eat more: to increase weight and muscle, you need to eat more calories than are being used up in training. For elite athletes it is not unusual to need 4000kcal+. These need to be ‘good quality’ calories, not junk food. Whatever you are eating now, you need to add at least 500kcal per day, and be lifting weights in the gym. A more accurate assessment of calorie needs can be made by a nutritionist/dietitian.

A good protein intake is needed for muscle growth: daily lean protein from chicken, turkey, pork, fish, eggs, yogurt, milk, nuts, seeds, peanut butter etc., rather than sausages, bacon and ham. How much is needed depends on the individual. Aim for approximately 2g/kg.

Good quality carbohydrates are essential for adding calories for muscle growth and recovery: Wholegrain bread, pasta, rice, granola, muesli, oats at each meal and snack. Don’t be tempted to go low carb if you are training daily. This can result in poor muscle gain, recovery and performance.

Eat salmon, sardines, mackerel or fresh tuna twice a week – these are potent anti inflammatories, so essential for muscle recovery and reducing soreness. Take an omega 3 supplements if you don’t like fish

Protein and Creatine monohydrate supplementation can also be considered once the above 5 points are in place.

More ways that eating well will benefit you:

Strengthening the immune system – 70% immunity is in the gut, treat it well with good nutrition and sickness from flu and stomach bugs are less likely. Individual players, and teams, cannot afford to be unnecessarily sick. The right food protects you from illness. It is the players with poor diets who are frequently sick.

Faster recovery – any training session, whether on the pitch or in the gym provokes muscle damage. What you eat before and after has a significant impact on how fast and how well recovery happens.

Feeling ‘better’ and more energetic – heavy training volumes will inevitably cause tiredness, but this will be made worse if the best fuel is not being made available. Carbohydrates are often overlooked in favour of protein, but are essential to prevent fatigue.

Hello!

I am a UK Registered Dietitian with 16 years of medical and sports experience. Looking after yourself with good food doesn’t need to be complicated or expensive. But there is so much confusing information out there. This blog is my take on cutting out the nutrition nonsense and keeping it real with Fast Fit Food

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